SLS 16RS-1584 ORIGINAL
2016 Regular Session
SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 76
BY SENATOR PERRY
COMMENDATIONS. Commends John Dan Gielen for his numerous contributions to his
community and the state, and for operating successful retail businesses for 50 years.
1 A RESOLUTION
2 To commend John Dan Gielen for his numerous contributions to the community of Crowley
3 and the state of Louisiana, and for operating successful retail businesses for fifty
4 years.
5 WHEREAS, John Dan Gielen was born in Crowley, Louisiana, and attended St.
6 Michael's High School; and
7 WHEREAS, he received his Bachelor of Science degree at Mississippi College in
8 Clinton, Mississippi; and
9 WHEREAS, Mr. Gielen has been married to his wife, Peggy Angelle Gielen, for
10 more than fifty years and they have four children, twenty grandchildren, and eight
11 great-grandchildren; and
12 WHEREAS, he and his family have been lifelong members of St. Michael the
13 Archangel Catholic Church in Crowley; and
14 WHEREAS, Mr. Gielen is a member of the Knights of Columbus, a former member
15 of the Acadia Parish School Board, and served on the board of directors of the National
16 Association of Tobacco Outlets; and
17 WHEREAS, in the mid-1960s, he pursued his dream of going into the convenience
18 store business and built the first Shop Rite on a corner location a few blocks from his
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1 childhood home which still operates today; and
2 WHEREAS, Shop Rite was incorporated in May, 1966, and grew to twenty retail
3 convenience stores and supermarkets in South Louisiana in ten years that spanned sixty
4 miles west to Lake Charles and one hundred twenty-five miles east to Houma; and
5 WHEREAS, by the early 1990s, Shop Rite survived the oil bust of the 1980s and
6 continued to expand to what is now thirty-five locations; and
7 WHEREAS, in 1991, Mr. Gielen opened the first Tobacco Plus store and has
8 expanded the discounted retail concept to twenty-six stores throughout Louisiana; and
9 WHEREAS, while growing the retail businesses, he expanded into the wholesale
10 business by purchasing Church Point Wholesale, a regional grocery and tobacco wholesaler
11 in 1991, and subsequently through the acquisition of Pelican Wholesale in Lake Charles in
12 the mid-1990s; and
13 WHEREAS, Mr. Gielen's businesses, Shop Rite, Tobacco Plus, and Church Point
14 Wholesale, employ more than one thousand associates, staff, and clerical employees in
15 fifteen parishes throughout Louisiana; and
16 WHEREAS, he has been an avid supporter of the youth in Acadia Parish and been
17 recognized as Business Man of the Year by the Crowley Chamber of Commerce, and has
18 raised more than a million dollars for patients at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in
19 Memphis, Tennessee; and
20 WHEREAS, in 2012, Freedom Plaza was funded and built under the direction of Mr.
21 Gielen to pay tribute to members of the five branches of the armed services and includes a
22 monument featuring the names of deceased veterans from St. Landry, Lafayette, Vermilion
23 and Acadia parishes; and
24 WHEREAS, the success of the state of Louisiana, the strength of our communities,
25 and the overall vitality of American society depends, in great measure, upon the dedication
26 of people like John Dan Gielen who use their considerable talent and resources to increase
27 economic growth for future generations.
28 THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Senate of the Legislature of Louisiana
29 does hereby commend John Dan Gielen for his numerous contributions to the community
30 of Crowley and the state of Louisiana, and for operating successful retail businesses for fifty
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1 years, and does hereby record for posterity the pride and honor that he brings to his family,
2 friends, community, the state of Louisiana, and the United States.
3 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to John
4 Dan Gielen.
The original instrument and the following digest, which constitutes no part
of the legislative instrument, were prepared by Nancy Vicknair.
DIGEST
SR 76 Original 2016 Regular Session Perry
Commends John Dan Gielen for his numerous contributions to the community of Crowley
and the state of Louisiana, and for operating successful retail businesses for 50 years.
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